In traditional laboratory inoculation techniques, as discussed in prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,899, entitled "Calibrated Inoculation Assembly and Method of Preserving Sterility," after a desired microorganism has been successfully incubated in a nutrient broth substance, it is necessary to further colonize the microorganism so that a particular strain can be identified and researched. For this, a predetermined quantity of inoculant from the broth is extracted and implanted in a nutrient medium so that the microorganism can be grown under controlled conditions.
A common tool used to inoculate the nutrient medium is an inoculation loop, which includes a loop end that carries the inoculant solution to the nutrient medium. A handle device is releasably coupled to the opposite end of the inoculation loop in order to allow the researcher to grasp and manipulate the inoculation loop in a sanitary, controlled manner while performing the inoculation procedures. Once used, an inoculation loop is disposed of, while the handle is re-used to perform additional inoculation procedures.
Typical prior art handles have been undesirably complex and costly to fabricate, requiring a multiplicity of injection molded and metal parts to fabricate and an undesirable amount of time to assemble.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to simplify the design of an inoculation loop handle in order to reduce its fabrication cost, while still maintaining its functionality and ease of use.